Short Steps, Deep Breaths
by OurLadyGrem
Summary: A short romance story about how two fairies fell in love. They both know it's meant to be, so what's stopping them? Continued from my previous short story, "Everything's Alright".


**Title: **Short Steps, Deep Breaths

**Disclaimer: **I don't own this show.

A short romance story about how two fairies fell in love. They both know it's meant to be, so what's stopping them? Continued from my previous short story, "Everything's Alright".

* * *

><p>It had been a whirlwind of events since the day they met.<p>

All the while that Wanda had been in the hospital, she had received a bouquet of flowers daily from Cosmo whenever he couldn't visit. When she was finally able to leave the building, Cosmo had helped her into a wheelchair and took her outside, where she was surprised by a pile of flowers on the front steps wrapped up with a label for Wanda attached to them.

She was overcome with emotion, sighing with admiration for him as she looked over his kind gesture. From the few days she had known him, she had come to know him as the sweetest, kindest and most gentle man she had ever met. The flowers, the visits, the compliments and the way he looked at her confirmed this to her. She found herself looking forward to seeing him turn the corner of her ward and see his face light up as he looked at her. She'd never had a man look at her the way he would to her. It was nice, it was refreshing and it made her feel loved.

It was a feeling she hadn't felt with her ex-boyfriend, Juandissimo, and that had surprised her, even upset her a little. However, she was too distracted with how happy Cosmo was making her feel to think too much of it. She hadn't thought much of it at the time, as she went along with the flow of things as she usually does, but he was too sweet to her to be able to think straight. She greatly appreciated his company and his effort to comfort her.

Cosmo was also very accident prone, she had come to realise from how they first met, and he continued to be so during his visits. Some bouquets would have bees nestling in them, so once she was overcome with happiness at his sweet gesture she would quickly have that feeling taken away from her as a horde of wasps would emerge and tackle her in her own hospital bed. Cosmo would also adjust her hospital bed for her, sometimes a little too enthusiastically and ended up squashing her with the mattress.

And yet every single time Cosmo would cause her harm, he would always be incredibly apologetic and have a look on his face she could only forgive. It was impossible, it seemed to her, to stay mad at him for long. He was so sincere and thoughtful, she could only melt in the way he would furrow his eyebrows and look at her with large, sad eyes that said all that needed to be said. She was so grateful to him, she had to let him know she thought of him as the sweetest man she'd ever known.

When she turned in her wheelchair to tell him this, he had vanished. Thanks to his very short attention span, he had wandered off in the direction of a bush full of butterflies leaving Wanda to steadily roll down the hill before she stopped the wheels herself from falling all the way to the bottom. She sighed to herself again, accepting that Cosmo was a little short handed when it came to his intelligence. She turned herself on her wheels back to the pile of flowers, picking up the head of a large pink tulip and inspecting it carefully for any bees or wasps. Thankfully, it was clean.

Suddenly Cosmo had taken it from her, and gently nestled it in her hair behind her ear. His fingers brushed the tip of her ears, making them turn red in slight embarrassment and smiled to him with bright red cheeks. Her heart leapt at this. He would always surprise her or catch her unawares with the nice things he would do for her, feeling her heart in her mouth as she sighed to him in a completely happy tone.

It was that moment that she knew her feelings for him were growing from just a good friend, growing into an apparent crush which was obviously lost on him. She couldn't ignore the way he had an effect on her anymore, knowing full well that the more he cared for her and continued to prove how kind he was through his actions then the more she would fall for him.

From then on, she continued to see him outside of the hospital now she was acquitted out of the ward. She'd often visit the diner he worked at as a waiter just so she could see him. She'd even suggest to her friends that they should visit the diner just so that she had an excuse to see him again. Her friends knew of her crush on Cosmo, it was incredibly apparent to anyone that she was completely enamoured with him.

While she sat in the booth with her friends, her eyes would wander around the diner until she could see him. Her friends often observed her slightly sighing under her breath, and they would only roll their eyes and let her carry on secretly admiring their waiter. Although so many people knew of Wanda's crush, it was only Cosmo who was completely blind to it.

But it was the same both ways, as Cosmo was still completely in love with Wanda. She was unaware of how much he truly cared about her. She assumed that he was so accident prone because of the way he's always been, knowing of his stories from childhood when he was a poor student and he had even destroyed a school with his accidental destructive nature. It was true he was a clumsy person, but he became even worse around Wanda. She would have him so weak at the knees that he would fall on his feet three times as much as he normally would.

One time, he had an order of burgers and fries sent to Wanda's table. The other waiters purposely sending him over to her as they already knew of the chemistry between the two. It was obvious to everyone that sparks would fly whenever they looked at each other. So the chefs behind the bar passed Cosmo the tray of food, instructing him to the booth beside the window.

As he turned his head, he paused for a moment to notice Wanda sitting over there happily laughing and chatting with her friends. He felt his balance losing control as usual, caught off guard from seeing her at his work. Despite how nervous he made her, he was incredibly happy to see her and he was so grateful that he slightly smiled to himself.

He took a big gulp before walking over, his two left feet acting up as he struggled to get over to her in one piece. Suddenly, he arrived at her side and was grateful again for not causing an accident then. It was only when Wanda had looked up and smiled as she realised who it was. Cosmo couldn't take it, feeling so happy as he watched her look so lovingly towards him. He took a step forward and immediately spilt the entire tray over her head.

Burgers, fries and milkshake were spilling over her head and through her yellow dress. Cosmo had also taken a lot of damage when he got lettuce stuck to his eyes.

"Oh man, I'm so sorry Wanda." Cosmo hurriedly said, wiping the lettuce from his face. Then he was taken aback by her reaction. She wasn't angry with him or upset about being drenched in food, she was still smiling.

"It's okay." She said calmly, her eyes never breaking away from his, and laughed softly, "I always wanted to know what it was like to be ranch dressing."

Cosmo beamed at her, laughing with her almost in the same tune. She was amazing. She'd forgive him for blowing up the world if he did it on accident. She was funny and kind, tolerant and sweet. She would be the voice of reason for him, a role model to look up to and someone he could be completely himself with. How lucky, he felt, to have met her and to have become such good friends with her. He didn't know how much more happy she could've made him.

He could've happily spent the rest of his days running behind her on the track field, desperately giving her another bouquet of flowers just so he could show her that he was always thinking of her. He could've sat at the window of his mother's house and watch her walk past and look at her. He loved the way her hair looked, it was unique and beautiful. The curls of her hair would bounce on the top of her head, and he wished he could see her with her hair down in curls. Whenever he saw her, she had her hair tied up at the back and wore a dress that covered almost all her skin. She was a very abrasive character, yet she dressed as if she wants to hide. The way she looked seemed so adjacent to the way she was. He couldn't understand, but he didn't object to it.

He was just so happy doing these simple things for her. When he couldn't see her, he often thought about her, even in the most inconvenient places. He dangerously left an iron on to burn through his clothes as he stopped to think about her. He just didn't care. She was on his mind all the time, it was almost impossible to concentrate on anything else but her. He'd think about her carefree smile, her kind nature towards him, her hilarious jokes and her laughter. He couldn't help it, they were so infectious he could barely tear his thoughts away from her.

He didn't know much of anything except for his feelings for her. It was just an incredible feeling. He had known and accepted that he wasn't a very bright individual and this had made him so self-conscious about every decision he ever made. However this was the one thing he was the most sure of out of anything else he'd ever known. For once in his life, he was sure of this more than anything else. Nothing felt more right than the feeling that he was completely and hopelessly in love with Wanda.

Sometimes he'd be tempted to fantasise about telling her his feelings for her. He'd think of ways to do it, like sky writing a confession in the sky or taking her somewhere private and romantic to find the right moment to tell her. He'd think about how even if he'd misspell her name in the sky or if he fell into the ocean after a romantic boat ride, she'd only smile and shrug her shoulders. He knew that she was so forgiving of him that even the worst possible confession could've been met with a smile. It's one of the reasons he loved her.

Never had it occurred to him that she forgave him so willingly because she had feelings for him too, as his fantasises would usually stop there. He was so unsure of whether she would return his feelings or not, he'd never really think about where his confessions would lead. Some days when he would spend time with her, he would come so close to telling her that he loved her. He was always thinking it from just looking at her, he'd be tempted to let it slip. But he was afraid of her answer. So he felt happy enough where he was, secretly loving her from a distance.

Yet he had no idea...

...

He had asked Wanda out for a date one night in his car, to which she gladly agreed, and drove her around town. It was actually a perfect night out, the clouds parted to reveal a huge flurry of stars glistening above them and the streets were calm and peaceful while Cosmo and Wanda had a blast singing in unison to the radio. It brought back memories to Cosmo of the time he met Wanda, being pulled towards her voice and eventually his car being pulled into her.

"Oh you to me you're everything, the sweetest song that I could sing," She'd blast out along to a song by _The Real Thing_, making Cosmo's heart beat faster as he sang along with her.

"To you, I guess I'm just a clown who picks you up each time you're down," He'd sing, looking over to her as he sang as hard as he could, "So now you got the best of me, c'mon and take the rest of me."

"I love this song." She sighed as it slowly faded out and she sunk further in her chair, looking over to Cosmo in the corner of her eyes. He'd only smile in return, quickly flashing a glance over to her and could only marvel at the luck he had to have her next to him in his car at that moment. But then his nerves rose like it had surfaced from the deep depths of the ocean and he gulped hard.

"Um, I can show you a place I know where no one goes. It's got a really great view and I think you'd like it." Cosmo said, his voice slightly wavering.

"Sounds perfect." She said softly, her voice barely a whisper as she leaned back in happiness. She was so content being in his company, relaxing by his side and listening to music and having the time of her life with him. She could've been whisked away anywhere and she wouldn't have noticed.

Cosmo was nervous because of the place he had in mind was previously a place couples would go to be alone in their cars, getting up to whatever they could away from curious eyes. Now it was completely abandoned because of a difficult pathway to get there, but because Cosmo had so much time on his hands before he met Wanda, he had found of another way to get up there. He used this knowledge as an advantage, hopefully to share this secret with Wanda and not give her the wrong idea.

Once they pulled up on the cliff, Wanda sat up from her dreamy state and her eyes widened. Cosmo opened the car door for her, and she slowly rose from her seat. Never straying away from the scenery, Cosmo lead her to the front and lifted her on to the hood of the car, where he sat alongside her and smiled at her reaction.

Perhaps this wasn't such a bad idea after all, Cosmo thought to himself with relief.

Wanda was still taking a deep breath, looking over the entirety of Fairy World. It was gorgeous, the stars shining over them and the twinkling city lights littered across the ground almost as if it was a mirror of the sky itself. The clouds resting on the ground were adjacent to the scattered clouds in the sky, barely masking the beautiful multi-coloured galaxy painted above them.

"Cosmo, this is beautiful." She managed to breathe.

"Yeah," Cosmo said, smiling, "I'm glad you like it. I come up here sometimes when I want to be by myself. It's a really nice place to leave all your worries behind."

"It's amazing," Wanda said, and then looked over to him with a slightly worried expression, "But is it okay for me to know about this place? It is the place you escape to, after all."

Cosmo shrugged, smiling innocently to her as he said, "I wanted to show you so it's our place now."

Wanda's heart skipped a beat. Her mouth hung slightly open as her face flushed bright red, then she felt herself smile the most genuine smile she could bear. She was so humbled, her heart beating so fast in her chest that she felt she could hear it beating in her ears. She could only look at him with such admiration, her crush on him growing all the more serious as she began to realise the extent of his care for her. He was willing to show her a private place where he came to be alone, now he wanted to be with her and her only. She placed her hand over her chest, gripping it into a fist as if she was trying to slow down her heart beating. She couldn't, she didn't want to stop the amazing feeling he gave her.

Suddenly, she gently fell on to his shoulder, catching him completely off guard. He stayed completely still, letting the situation sink in that she was resting on him. Her pink curls brushed the side of his face and the smell of her perfume was all the more prominent. Slowly, Cosmo began to relax and his shoulders fell. He daren't say anything that could possibly ruin this, so he could only look down towards her.

"Cosmo," her small voice rang and caught his attention again, "I was going to tell you this before, so I'll tell you now. You are the sweetest man I've ever known."

She lifted her head to face him, her body turned towards him and she was so close to him that she almost pressed against him if she wasn't leaning on her arm. Cosmo could only stare in astonishment, sweating from having her so close to him and the shock of what she told him barely even registering in his mind.

"Really?" He could only say with barely a breath. Wanda nodded with a smile.

"You're so kind and considerate. You're amazing. Ever since we met you've been nothing but sweet to me. Even when you put me in the hospital, more than once, you've shown me that you'll always be by my side and care about me.

"Remember what I told you when we first met?" She said as her eyes flickered away from him for a moment, "I felt like I was invisible and I didn't belong here. I've never known what it would be like to be number one in someone's eyes. But you... Cosmo, you look at me like no one else has. You look at me and I feel loved. I've never known anyone like you, and I'm so glad to have met you." She said gently, pressing her hand over her heart.

Cosmo felt as if the wind had been knocked out of him. He was melting within her gaze, unable to take the way she would look at him. It was like she said, and he felt exactly the same way. She looked at him with a soft gaze, her eyes glistening beneath the starry sky and a gentle smile that had him gulping for air. She looked at him with such compassion and kindness. She was an amazing woman, Cosmo could only think to himself, and the fact that she thought he was amazing too was almost like a dream.

He was so immersed in her being there, looking back at her with that same gentle gaze filled with all his love for her, staring at Wanda's half opened mouth as if they had been sitting there like that for hours. He'd not even realised that after staring at her lips for so long, he'd gently placed his thumb below them to part them even more.

He couldn't hold himself back anymore. He wanted her more than anything else in his life. He didn't want for anything as much as he wanted Wanda. In that moment, that was the only thing going through his mind. He felt himself being pulled towards her, slowly realising that Wanda had taken the hem of his tie and gently tugged at it to bring him closer towards her.

She was welcoming him.

The feeling was mutual for her, she wanted nothing else but him at that moment. Everything else became so insignificant, as if the ground beneath them fell away and there was nothing else in existence except for them.

Cosmo looked at her eyes, slightly closed and glowing with anticipation and love. Her lips crept up into a smile, still half open from the pull of Cosmo's thumb beneath it. He knew this was it, then. All of his fantasises of telling her how he felt were blown out of his mind, knowing now that all he wanted to do was kiss her and hopefully let his actions speak louder than he ever could.

Wanda knew this was what he was best at. He showed her more than he could ever use with his words. He followed what his heart told him, wearing it steadily on his sleeve and proving to her time and time again that these actions, subtle or not, were different ways of telling her that he was in love with her.

It was then that she finally pieced it all together. She could see it, slowly being pulled closer towards her, she could feel it in his grasp and see it in his gentle gaze that she was his love. And he was hers.

Then, their lips finally touched after what seemed to be an eternity.

Cosmo's eyes were closed but his heart and mind was alive with activity. He could've died happy at that moment. His love was returned, it seemed impossible before and it still felt to him that this was all a dream. But he couldn't deny the feeling of her against him with Wanda's arms gradually moving from his chest, wrapping them around his shoulders to pull him even closer towards her. He honestly could've cried, placing a hand on the side of her face almost like support and completely losing himself in their kiss.

They remained like that for a while, not wanting to break apart just yet in case this dream was over, until Wanda finally pulled back a little to face him with her arms slowly sliding away, but still latching on to his shoulders. She smiled contently, her eyes almost drunk with happiness, and Cosmo felt ripped away from her as if he could've stayed kissing her all night, feeling almost tempted to ask for that. But as soon as he saw how happy Wanda was, how she still held on to him and the little distance she put between them had him smiling from ear to ear. He dropped his hand from her face to hold on to her arms. He knew he finally had to tell her,

"Wanda, you're the woman I love and want to be with." Cosmo told her as if every breath was his last, softening his gaze at her as he told her truthfully with all his heart, "You make me so happy."

"Me too, Cosmo." She said, gently stroking the side of his face with her thumb to relax him, "You've made me the happiest woman alive tonight."

"Me too." He laughed, to which Wanda burst out into a roaring laughter she had been trying to hold back from how happy she was, leaning forward so she could rest her forehead on his.

As their laughter died down, they smiled to each other with their hair tangled together above their eyes.

"I love you," he said quietly. Wanda sighed contently once again, taking one last longing look at him before she leaned back and shuffled over towards him, putting her head softly on his shoulder again. Only this time, she reached over for Cosmo's hand and slid her fingers between his, resting their hands between them.

It was strange, she felt, like her hand belonged there. He was warm, his fingers laced lovingly around hers, and they fit like so perfectly. They fit almost like a puzzle.

"I love you too," Wanda said softly, "You sweet man."

That was it, Cosmo thought to himself, the two pieces of the puzzle finally fit together and made a perfect picture. Everything was so clear, it all made sense, and he was so incredibly happy to finally be able to understand.

They were meant to be.

It was a puzzle that couldn't be undone, they were stuck together and they were happy.

Cosmo's head rested on hers, looking over at the star speckled city and feeling like the luckiest man who ever lived. He got the girl of his dreams by his side, she was the only thing that he was right about. He must've done all the right things to have her love him in return and he was immensely glad. He didn't waste any time wondering just how he got so lucky, he only let the happiness of having her there wash over him.

She understood him, and however strange this might sound, but he understood her too. She was the girl who only wanted to feel like she belonged, and Cosmo made her feel as if she did. She found her place in this world, right by his side. With him there, she found the strength to do anything.

And Cosmo just wanted someone to accept his flaws and his mistakes he'd often make. Wanda did just that, she loved him without question. She saw past all his failures and misconceptions, because she understood that a small mind doesn't make up for his big heart.

As he had her against him, holding her hand as if it was clamped over his fast beating heart, he knew this was exactly what he wanted for the rest of his life.


End file.
